“It’s a great book, and is warmly recommended to any player looking for something fresh in their repertoire! Wonderful stuff: 5 stars!”
GM Matthew Sadler, New in Chess
“These two volumes have numerous strengths. The author is an experienced and active grandmaster, currently rated in the high 2600s, and having previously broken the 2700 threshold. Among many other titles and tournament wins he counts two British championships.
Jones has played the majority of lines himself, often again the world’s leading players. He is assiduously careful to analyze Black’s best defenses in every line, admitting objective equality in those cases where it arises, but finding many new moves which ensure that the play will not peter out and the game will remain challenging even in the worst case… Gawain Jones has made an important addition to chess theory, and I hope that we see more of him as an author.”
IM John Watson, Chess Life (full review)
“This is the strength of these two volumes: none of the lines are unknown and all of them have been studied to some degree, but Jones knows them from playing them himself and analyzing them carefully. This means that the reader gets a full bang for his or her buck. The analysis throughout the two volumes is truly first-rate and the quality of the author’s selection of variations and implementation is excellent… If you are playing 1.e4 and have some issues in certain lines, why not check out these books and see what they suggest, they will offer you something much more than just a temporary patch. Highly recommended. 5/5 Stars”
Carsten Hansen, American Chess Magazine
“The second part of Gawain Jones’s fun-looking 1 e4 repertoire […] continues his excellent and deep work. Club players would be advised to stick to the clearly explained key ideas, the main lines and study the various illustrative games; more advanced readers will also want to tuck into the theory, of which there is plenty at times.”
CHESS magazine
Reaction to Volume 1:
“This is a extremely playable set of recommendations and … this book will be found to be extremely useful by the strongest and club players alike.”
John Upham, British Chess News
“If over-the-board chess becomes normal once more then many club and tournament players will be so relieved that they will be playing for fun rather than taking their games seriously … Anyone who feels the same will welcome this interesting book with its fresh and intriguing lines.”
Sean Marsh, CHESS magazine
